Tasting the Stars (Champagne)

Perhaps it was divine intervention, but it’s most likely that Champagne was created by accident. In the 1500s, French Benedictine monks made wine used in their church services. One group of monks in the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire, near Carcassonne, a village in southern France, bottled a batch of wine before it finished fermenting. Pressure continued to build until the bottles exploded and the méthode rurale was born. 
 
According to romantic legend that has grown around Champagne, the monk to make the discovery was Dom Pérignon, and he was quoted as saying, “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!”  (It turns out that Dom Pérignon never uttered those words, but he was instrumental in developing an early set of rules governing the production of Champagne.) 
 
It took over 100 years until it was discovered that adding sugar to a finished wine created a second fermentation in the bottle, which came to be known as méthode champenoise. And it wasn’t for another 100 years, until the early 19th century, that the méthode champenoise was adopted in the region of Champagne. From there, Champagne grew in popularity. It became such a global phenomenon that Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II once said, “Remember, gentlemen, it’s not just France we are fighting for, it’s Champagne!” 
 
The love of Champagne spurred production of sparkling wine in other regions around the world. Globally, it was called Champagne until 1891, when an agreement on European trademarks mandated that the term Champagne could only be used to refer to wines made in the region of Champagne, France. (This protection was so important to France that it was reaffirmed in the Treaty of Versailles following World War I.) Today, Spain has Cava and Italy has Franciacorta. South Africa is famous for its Cap Classique. 
 
We’ve come a long way from the days of Dom Pérignon. Champagne is now the de facto wine used to celebrate holidays, weddings, anniversaries and World Series championships, but it’s still the closest thing we have to tasting the stars.